Voluntary Repossession - Advice Needed

cupertino76

Hi there guys,

I need some advice on voluntary repossession.

My ex-partner and I own a house together and we haven't been able to pay the mortgage since the October 29th 2012.

Recently I wrote a letter to Halifax explaining that we are no longer able to keep up with payments on the mortgage and that we would like to proceed with voluntary repossession.

They wrote back to me explaining that I would need to hand the keys in to my local Halifax branch and that I would also need to fill out and sign the attached form and hand that in at the same time.

However, I have read on here that I should be careful as to what i am signing on this form as it may come back to bite me later on if/when I go bankrupt (which I more than likely will have to do).

Can you someone explain to me what I need to look out for? Am i being too cautious?

Any help / advice you could offer me would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks



NOTE: Below is the letter I sent to Halifax...

With reference to the above we request that you take this letter as our formal request to voluntarily surrender possession of the property and our agreement to its sale. Unfortunately we are no longer able to keep up with payments on our mortgage.

We confirm that the property is secure, vacant and unfurnished.
We have possession of the keys, and will arrange for these to be handed into a local Halifax branch as soon as you can confirm receipt of this letter.

Should there be any contents/effects remaining in the property once the keys have been handed in, we understand that these may be disposed of by you.

We are aware that interest will be charged in accordance with the mortgage conditions on the outstanding mortgage debt until the property is sold.

We understand that you subscribe to credit reference / external agencies. In all cases where possession of the property is given to you, you submit details to these centralised registers. We are also aware that this may affect our ability to borrow money from other lenders in future years.

For your information, we can now be contacted at the following addresses and would request that all correspondence be in writing only to these addresses:

fermi

Should in theory be perfectly OK to sign their forms before you go BR. Nothing they want you to sign beforehand can prevent any shortfall being covered by a future bankruptcy, no matter what the wording. A subsequent BR order overrides anything signed from beforehand.

BJV

Sorry I have nothing positive to add about the how and when aspects of handing your house back or going BR.

But just wanted to say that I really hope that you are your OH are OK. It must be a difficult time. Genuine Good luck.